The Wilting Rose
by Steffers-Lynn
Summary: Hello, this is my first story!I'm sorry but I ended it on chapter 5! Naruto goes to a party, and finds love. The girl of his dreams loves him back. But will Lust take over? and will Narutos love wilt? He still has a happy ending, but with who?
1. prologue summer vacation

The wilting rose…

Prologue-Summer Vacation

Hello, it's me Narutosgurl09, this is my first story and I am kind of excited!

This story is about dying love, but who comes in to save it? Let's find out!

It was summer, the most horrible season in the history of ever! I couldn't believe that I, of all people, was being dragged out into the blazing heat. By a girl. A GIRL. HOW DID SHE EVEN DRAG ME HERE?!?

"Come on!! We're going to be late!" said Sakura. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE TO!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to explain… Oh well, you will just have to deal." The pink haired little girl said.

"Well, whatever it is, I am NOT going to like it." I said, hopefully making sure she heard the emphasis on the 'NOT'

"Oh trust me, you will like it. Hey by the way, since when do you NOT like summer?" she asked. "Since now." I simply stated.

"Oh, come on Naruto, what happened? You can tell me anything." She lied. Or at least I think she did. "Yeah I can tell u anything my BUTT! You are just going to go on to Ino, and tell her all about how I'm retarded."

"Now Naruto, would I of all people, do that?" she asked. "Wait…Don't answer that…" UGH, where were we going? What were we doing? I had to know. HAD TO KNOW! "Hey, blondie, were here!" she stated, and I looked up. What a dumb blonde type of thing to do. I had to look up to see a summer extravaganza, there was everything---and I mean EVERYTHING! Choji was at the bbq pit, as usual. Shikamaru sitting in a chair doing his special 'hand-sign' while playing Shogi with Master Asuma. Ino flirting with Sasuke, typical Ino. TenTen drinking a soda, Neji being a butt talking about destiny. Lee doing 100 laps in the pool, like ninjas even need to swim! Kiba throwing his little 'Oh so precious' mutt, a stick. Shino 'Mr. Buggy' as I like to call him, what a freak, talking to his bugs. Hinata, staring me down like the stalker I think she is, looking at me. And wow, this is strange, who invited the sand siblings? Gaara the guy without the eye-brows, was spreading his sand around to make it like a beach. Temari was fanning herself---what a shocker---with a miniature fan. Kankuro, the fat lazy cat guy, just stood around useless as usual. Kakashi argued with Guy over who's team was better. Kurenai, Tsunade, Anko, and Shizune all chatted. Pervy Sage just stared down their shirts. Sakura yanked me into the middle of this madness. Even though I love Sakura, don't you get this sense that I'm just ever-so-slightly mad at her right now? If you think so you are correct. Very correct.

"Come on Naruto!" she yelled. "AHHHHH!!!!" ARE YOU INSANE?!?!" I screeched. "I must be, Naruto. I must be." Darn it. DARN IT. I do not like parties. Never have. I guess it's because I've never been to one.

Once they heard my voice, the party began. Great. "HAPPY SUMMER VACATION AND FIRST PARTY EVER NARUTO!!!!!" they all yelled. I covered my ears in pain. Why would they throw me a party? I have always been hated by my village. Why respect me now? They probably expected me to say something like "WOW MY VERY FIRST PARTY EVER!!! DATTEBAYO!!!" they would be wrong. Very, very wrong. I have grown up in the years I have been away from Konoha. I don't act like the little retard I was then. But the thing is that I still have the childish feeling, I feel that I could shrink and become my old self all of a sudden. So I replied, not trying to be rude, even though I was being rude anyways. "Why would I want a party guys? I've done nothing but harm the village and you throw me a party?" their reply, "Naruto, we recognize now, that you have done something to save our village. You hold the Kyuubi, which would have killed us all if it weren't for you being born!" this however, was true. "oh… ok…" that's all I could say. So, I got over my frustration. I tried to enjoy myself and then it hit me like a baseball flying at 100 miles per hour. I didn't have my swim trunks.

"Um, Sakura…?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"I don't have my swim trunks with me."

"Uh-Oh."

"Uh-Oh indeed."

She ran toward the apartments, and what seemed like to me 5 seconds for her to get back was only 50 seconds. She shot back with my swim trunks in her hands and threw them at me. I started to take off my jacket and shirt when she punched me on the head. Whoa. Déjà vu! And guess what she said… "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???GET OUT OF HERE!!!DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE KENNEL??? NOT INFRONT OF ME YOU DON'T!!!FIND A BUSH OR SOMETHING!!!" déjà vu is right! I could have sworn she said the exact---and did the exact---same thing at the chunin exams! So I went over to a tree hid behind and changed into my swim trunks. I came back and—just to make Sasuke mad---did a cannonball right in his face. Nice.

"NARUTO YOU RETARD!"

I drenched him, that was probably the best cannonball ever. And I mean, EVER. But unfortunately, I miscalculated the voice. Crap. It was Ino I splashed. Just great. So next thing I know she's jumping in the water and swimming at me. I'm screaming. Ino is attacking me, in water. And everyone but Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura are laughing. Next thing I know Sakura and Ino are ambushing me in the water! So, I had to defend myself so I thought fast. I did some hand signs…(fwup, fwup, fwup.) _KAGEBUNSHIN NO JUTSU!_ Then my clones picked up Sakura and Ino while I made my escape.


	2. Chapter 1 The Kiss

Chapter 1

The kiss

I walked over to the snack bar where food was constantly being made because Choji was constantly eating it. I walked over to Mr. Ichiraku, my favorite ramen guy in the history of Japan. "Mr. Ichiraku! ONE BOWL OF MISO RAMEN PLEASE!" I asked. "Coming right up Naruto!" he replied. I smiled unwillingly, for ramen was my weakness. Mmmmm…just thinking about it made my mouth water. And he always was so fast, it was already done! Not even enough time to think about it, that kind of made me sad.

"Hey Choji… Why don't you go hang out with your team?" I asked while eating ramen

He chewed his potato chips for a minute(munch, munch, munch) " Because I'm eating, duh."

Ugh, what a retard. I slurped up my ramen and walked over to where Shikamaru and Asuma were playing Shogi and decided to take a seat. "Umm, who is winning?" I asked. Of coarse I knew who was winning, Shikamaru. He NEVER loses. EVER. Shikamaru just threw up a 'shush' sign and made his move.

He won. A simple move, and he won. That amazed me, yet I've seen it a million times it mystified me...How did he do It? Well, I guess I shouldn't ask that question…What to do? I mean, there isn't anything to do at this party! But there was one thing I have wanted to do for ever, and now is my chance! I ran up to Sakura and tapped her shoulder. "What Naruto?" and she turned around. I didn't have much time to think so I bent down and kissed her. Not lips to cheek. Not lips to forehead (even though its HUGE). Lips to lips. I never kissed a girl in my whole life. Not even my MOM. Strangely I felt movement. I wasn't moving my lips. She was. I just realized, she was kissing back! I grabbed her hair and clamped on to her hoping this moment wouldn't end. Sadly, it did. She pulled away. "What… What was that?" she mumbled. Just then I realized… It was WAY to quiet. I looked around at the same time she did. Everyone was staring. Even Sasuke. But what made me feel good, was that Sasukes mouth was hanging open and his sunglasses fell off. Total, moment, of, triumph.

"What are you guys looking at?" I asked dumbfounded

Lee answered my question with acid "Your first kiss. That's what."

This for some reason made me mad. They didn't have a right to go snooping into other peoples business. Then again, I guess I didn't have a right to go around kissing girls. "Uhhh Naruto can I speak to you in private? Please?" Sakura asked. I just stared at her beauty, and nodded. As we walked around the pool and sat under an empty bench under a palm tree where people couldn't hear us and barely see us I felt eyes on my back and noticed Hinata's agonized expression. This made me feel guilty but somehow loved. I sat down next to Sakura keeping my back on everybody, when I heard the noise go back to normal. She went to say something but stopped herself and thought again. This made me wonder what was going on in her mind. I decided to say something before she did. "Uhhh… I'm sorry Sakura I wasn't" she cut me off mid sentence and said, "No Naruto that's okay… Don't apologize. What I want to know is… Do you like me… Naruto?" she asked slowly. "Yes" is what I said, and all I could think of, too.

"I like you, too, Naruto." I noticed a slight bit of redness appear under her pale cheeks. This response baffled me, since when would Sakura like me. I don't even know if this is the same Sakura Haruno that I grew up with! I mean, she looks like the pink haired little girl that I knew when I was just a blonde little boy. But she certainly doesn't act like her! I vaguely remember how she used to be so mean to me, then again most people were mean to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is barely the Sakura I remember! She looked at me for a minute then said, "Do… D-do you want to go out, Naruto?" She asked quietly.

At this moment, I was screaming on the insides. My heart leapt, and my brain reacted. "YES!!YES SAKURA I DO!!!" I shouted. Suddenly, all the noise stopped for everyone to stare at us. "I said that a little to loud didn't I?" I whispered. "Ya think?" she asked with a little bit of acid in her tone. Temari rolled her eyes in disgust and went back to fanning herself. Ino looked at Sakura with a look of disapproval. Sasuke gave me a menacing look that gave me Goosebumps. I turned my head, back to look at Sakura, and took her face in my hands, pulled her in to my face, and kissed her deeply. It lasted longer than the last kiss, and when I pulled away to get air, she gasped and blushed a deep scarlet. This summer, was going to be fun. I looked back at Sasuke, who was boiling mad now. I excused myself and walked over to Sasuke. He glared up at me. "Nice day for love, eh, Sasuke?" I said in triumph. He glared up at me and whispered something along the lines of "Dumb blondes always get girls, or guys."


	3. Chapter 2 Blooming Love

Chapter 2

Blooming Love

I guess that was when I snapped, because suddenly, I was pissed. I grabbed the back of Sasukes chair, and dumped him into the pool. I heard screams and gasps, but I didn't care. I jumped in as I could feel the red chakra sneaking up on me. "NOOO!! NARUTO!!!" Sakura screamed in perfect harmony with another voice of a female. I couldn't tell who's voice it was, but it sounded shy, and familiar. I grabbed Sasukes arm, noticing his curse mark spreading, and punched him with as much force possible. He opened his mouth and lost all of his air, this was my chance, but, I stopped, because I knew this would mean I murdered my best friend, and Tsunade wouldn't be to fond of that. I pulled Sasuke out of the water and crawled away, my anger level dropping, and the red chakra fading. Apparently I must have only gotten to the first stage of Kyuubi because Jiraiya and Kakashi dragged me into the gate corner and stuck a patch on my forehead. I could feel the power drain from me, and I soon felt normal. Sakura ran up to me, and Hinata, who I just noticed looked quite beautiful herself in her sky blue bikini, looked at me with a worried expression. Sakura checked to see if I had any injuries then she hurried over to Sasuke who was already being treated by Tsunade.

It was the end of the day and people were beginning to head home. I walked to the apartments with Sakura and when I got to my door she said, "Well… I guess I should head home." _No! Not now! I have to stop her!_"Uhhh, Sakura, why don't you come in" Stupid. Stupid. STUPID! It was never going to work! "Uhhh, sure!" It worked. Genius! We walked in and I sat on my futon. She sat next to me and I pulled her into my lap. This was when I felt a throb in my lower section. And she must have felt it to because she blushed and laid her head on my chest and licked my neck. Another throb. She kissed me, and I kissed back. I slid my tongue into her mouth and started swirling and twisting them together. She sucked on my tongue, and I bit her lip. I untied her bikini straps and slid off her top, and massaged her breasts, they were soft, but the nipples were hard. I felt her arm move down my chest…Hey…Wait a minute…Was she reaching for my swim trunks?!?! She slid them off and, just to get back at her, I slid the bottom part of her bikini off. She looked at my Penis and gasped, "I-it's so…so big!" I just simply stated: "I got it from my dad." She giggled and put her hand on it, and it throbbed again. She slid her hand up and down my penis and got faster and faster, it felt so good! And then the white sticky liquid shot out of it and got her in the face. "I-I'm so sorry Sakura!" I said sincerely. "Its okay, Naruto. Its just cum!" she wiped it off with her hand and licked it off of her hand. I looked at her for a minute, and then she put her mouth around my penis and began sucking, this felt even better. I could see that it barely fit in her mouth and I could feel her tongue trying to swirl around it. Soon she began going up and down. I cummed in her mouth and she swallowed. I was curious, so I reached down and rubbed her clit. "MMMMM" was all she replied with, and I guessed it felt good for her to. She then began to suck on my penis more aggressively, and this made me cum more. Then, she stopped, swallowed and took her mouth off. I badly wanted to know why she stopped. Then she said "I…I think I'm ready for you to go in me…" I wasn't expecting this so fast, but I was ready. "Okay Sakura…" I pinned her against the wall and she said,

"Be gentle, okay Naruto?"

"Okay, Sakura"

I penetrated her slowly and she gasped quietly. It felt so good, and yet, I felt like I immediately had to go fast and hard, but I promised I would be gentle, so I went all the way in slowly, and she replied with, "AHHHhhhh…mmmm…." This time, I pulled out almost all the way really fast and she winced. "S-sakura, are you okay?" she looked up with a tear in her eye and said "N-Naruto, don't s-stop!" I didn't want to hurt sakura, either way. If I kept on, it might hurt her physically, but if I stop, it might hurt her mentally. So I thrusted slowly, getting less "MMMM"'s and "Ahhh"'s. Then she whispered, "Naruto…Harder….Faster…." I looked at her and decided I would. I pulled out all the way and thrust all the way in, hard, and fast. She cummed, and I started thrusting hard and fast. She moaned and yelled "Harder Naruto! Faster, too!" I started thrusting as hard and as fast as I could, and I swear on the Kyuubi, she was screaming in joy.

It was morning and I woke up on my bed, sat up, and looked at her peaceful face. I put on my orange and black jump suit, and tied my headband on my forehead. I then realized she didn't have any clothes, so I snuck out swiftly and quietly, went to her house, and got her pink outfit, and found her makeup bag and brought it just in case. I got back put her clothes on my bed and made coffee in my kitchen. I sat on the futon and turned on the T.V. while I drank my coffee. Not to long after she came out of my room fully dressed and sat down next to me


	4. Chapter 3 Cheater Cheater

Chapter 3 Part 1

Cheater, Cheater

I sat on the couch silently and she laid her head on my shoulder. I whispered to her, "Did you have fun?" she lifted her head up and looked at me, "Why yes, yes I did." I could see the love in her eyes, and then I knew, she was the one. I finished my coffee, got up, and said "Well Sakura, I guess we should go see granny." She looked at me and said, "I guess you're right, lets go…I'll race you!" This sounded like fun. We stepped outside the door, whispered 1, 2, 3, GO! Then we were off, I was ahead by a few yards and bound through Granny Tsunade's office window. "I WON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I heard her yell "DAMMIT!" from somewhere and she burst through the open window next. I heard the door open and Sasuke walked in and sighed. "Uhhh hey, Sasuke" Sakura said awkwardly. Sasuke turned and looked at her with disgust and muttered "Ino said she hoped your relationship is as good as ours, Sakura….and…Naruto…"

Chapter 3 Part 2

Sasukes Love

"So, Tsunade, what's the mission today?" I asked smoothly and glared at Naruto with Jealousy and resentment. "Well, Sasuke, today you three have been assigned a mission to escort this young couple to the Ice Village, and Ino will also be helping." Perfect. Ino was coming, just what I need to antagonize Sakura! Then, a teenage girl, about 14, walked in and a boy about 17 walked in. "Hi! I'm Allison!" the perky girl said. "Yeah, and I'm her boyfriend, Jacob." The boy who seemed way to old for her said in a husky voice. "Well, Ino should be here any minute, oh and by the way, Allison is 14, and she is going to be the next queen. Jacob is 17, she is his bride, and he is becoming the king. So I suppose you won't let the king's daughter die, her or Jacob." Then Ino walked through the door in her whorish purple outfit, shoving the couple out of the way and walked up to the desk. "So, what did I miss, Tsunade?" she asked in an uncaring voice, when I noticed that she looked back and winked at Jacob. Cheat on me if she may, she's only being used to get to who I really want. Sakura…I'm going to have sakura as my wife and nobody is going to stop me. "So, I guess we should head out, Ino, I'll explain the mission on the way." I answered for Tsunade. I threw a quick glance at Jacob and Allison. What a lovely couple. I picked Jacob up without any trouble and put him on my back like I was giving him a piggy back ride. "Sakura, you lead us in the front. Ino, you keep up the back and look out. Naruto, you carry Allison, and Naruto, stand next me while were running. Sakura, Ino, Naruto, you know where the Ice village is, right?" I ordered and asked. "Yup. Its about 5 hours from Konoha walking. So If we run, we'll get there in about 3." We each hopped out the window and took off for the Ice village. About 2 hours in it was starting to snow, and we knew we were close. "Uhhh, sir! I'm hungry! Do you have a granola bar or something?" I looked at Allison, reached into a pouch and tossed her a granola bar. She looked at me with sincere thanks and ate it gratefully. I felt it getting colder, and the wind whipped my face until it almost hurt, so I ran even faster. Lucky. We got there at night fall and carried the couple to the palace. They thanked us, Gave us 900,000 yen and gave us each a room to stay.

Chapter 3 Part 3

Sakura's affair

"Sasuke, are you sure about this?" I asked bashfully, knowing that all along, this is what I wanted. "Completely sure. Now Sakura, be a good girl, and take off your clothes. That's it, strip tease." I unzipped my tank top and slid it off, and reached back and unhooked my bra, my subconscious screaming '_DON'T DO IT!'_ But my heart saying '**yes, good girl.'** I let my bra fall to the ground as I reached down, turned around and unzipped my skirt. I put my hands on each end of my panties, and slipped them down off my hips, and let them hit the ground. "ohhh sakura, you have quite a beautiful body, now why don't you turn around?" I was weary but I turned around my face the same color as my hair. I looked at Sasuke, and noticed his clothes were off. my face was as red as an apple. "S-Sasuke… why are your clothes off?" I asked, embarrassed. "Sh. Don't ask questions, Sakura. Now, be a good girl and suck my dick." I got on my knees and put my mouth around his cock. It was so warm, so, just randomly, I bit down lightly on it and Sasuke let out a moan. I began sucking on it, and I felt his hand on the back of my head, and then he pushed on my head, making me put as much in my mouth as possible, it was so big—even bigger than Naruto's dick—that it wouldn't fit in my mouth completely! I noticed he began thrust in my mouth and I bit down again, a bit harder this time, and he cummed in my mouth, I tried my best to swallow it and that was when he told me to go bend over the bed. I was nervous, because my pussy wasn't quite ready for something so big. He followed after me and slowly penetrated me. I let out a loud moan and then he started thrusting fast, and hard. It hurt at first, but after a few thrusts the pain turned into joy. I moaned and said "Ohhh! Sasuke! Harder! Faster! Go as deep as you can, Sasuke!" then I felt him go all the way in "How was that Sakura, that was as fast and as hard as I could go." He was panting in exhaustion and I moaned back in a reply of happiness. He began to move his hips around, and then I felt him cum. Suddenly, I heard the door knob. Dammit Sasuke, why didn't you lock the door?!?! Naruto opened the door and said "Hey Sasu- S-s-s-Sakura?!?! How could you?!?! And Sasuke! I thought you were my friend!" Naruto said in an agonized voice. This hurt me, even though my true love was Sasuke.


	5. Chapter 4 The Make ups, The Break ups

Chapter 4

The Make ups, The Break ups

When I saw that Sasuke was making love with Sakura, my heart was ripped out and thrown on the ground then stomped on. I slammed the door shut and ran back to my room, fighting the tears that I promised wouldn't escape my eyes, many years ago. I swiftly opened the door and shut it loudly behind me, locking the door. I collapsed on my bed, repeating, "She cheated. She lied." Over and over. It upset me that she would do such a thing. Why Sasuke? I couldn't believe that she would cheat on me; I knew she was a good person, and I knew that she had a crush on Sasuke, long ago. But I never figured she would cheat on me with him. She just wasn't that type of person. I heard knocking on my door and I turned my head to the door, I wiped my nose and I noticed water. I was crying. "…Who is it…?" I managed to choke out. Even though I knew who it was, I asked out of habit anyway. "It's me, Sakura. Please Naruto, let me in." I had to give in, because I couldn't help it. I got up and walked to the door, slowly unlocking it then I went back to my bed and lay down. She came in, fully dressed and sat down in the chair at the desk. There was an awkward silence for what seemed an eternity, and I had to break it. "Why; why Sakura?" I plead. She answered slowly. "I….I wasn't thinking at all Naruto. The whole time my brain said no. But my heart screamed yes." This hurt me. Because, knowing that she didn't truly love me, was the worst possible pain in existence. I looked at her for a long minute and finally said, "Well, I guess I'm not good enough for you. So, it's over. Go back to Sasuke and finish what you started. See you in the morning." She walked to the door, turned back to look at me for about 5 seconds, faced the door again and left. I locked it again after she closed it and went back to the bed that I was staying in for one night. I curled up in the bed, and wrapped my arms around my chest—where the big hole was, from my heart being stolen—and fell asleep.

I woke up very early the next morning. I got off the bed and opened the door that led to a patio that oversaw the village. I looked out over the dark sky and watched the sun rise. I knew that this would most likely be the most peaceful moment in my life. Just then I heard my rivals voice from behind the door shout. "Come on Naruto. We have to get back." I went back into the room and shut the patio door behind me. I unlocked the door and stepped outside to find Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke on the end of the hallway. I grabbed Ino's arm and pulled her back and breathed into her ear, "Ino, Sasuke is cheating on you with Sakura." She looked at me with a hurt face but whispered something I could barely understand in my ear. "Its alright, I like Kiba more." This actually shocked me. Since when does Ino like Kiba? Well I guess it's understandable, Kiba is a cool guy sometimes. Then Ino walked up to Sasuke and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and she said with clear acid and resentment, "It's, _**over**_." And she pushed through the two and walked ahead. Sasuke then took a quick glance of anger at me and looked forward again, I just smiled and went on. When we made it out of the huge castle, we took off in a run, now that we weren't so loaded down we could run faster, and it would be only one short hour.

It was one hour later and we went back to granny Tsunade's office. She could see the sorrow on Sakura's face, the triumph on Sasukes' face, the resentment on Ino's face, and my mask of anguish. I handed her the 900,000 yen (this was a surprise seeing that we did a mission without any battles, and it was for royalty. But the big price that we got was very generous and we did thank them.) I went home and found that my T.V. was still on. I started watching still standing, and then I heard something get slipped under the door.


	6. Final Chapter secret admirer

Chapter 5

Secret Admirer

I looked at the note for a second and I decided to pick it up. When I picked it up it had a heavy honey smell, this, I liked. I opened it slowly, and read quietly to myself.

Dear Naruto,

You make my heart flutter when I see you walk my way, and I feel like singing when you say my name.

With love, your secret admirer

This made my heart flutter, too. I just wish I knew who wrote it, so I could gladly take her up in my arms and give her a big hug. But then I realized. The only girl I knew that was actually nice to me was—and always has been—Hinata Hyuuga. This made me jump into realization, and I realized that I have been a fool forever, even since I was 5. My mind was jumping ahead of my body and I was looking for a clock to read. I ran into my tiny kitchen to look on the microwave, and it said 9:17 A.M. perfect! She should be walking around the park at just about this time. I shoved the note in my pocket and threw my door open and slammed it behind me, not even bothering to lock it. I jumped off the railing that separated me and the ground, 2 stories below. I easily landed on the ground and took off for the park. I passed Ichiraku's smelling the ramen that made me want to turn around, but I kept running. I finally got to the park and I saw her sitting at the swing set, crying. I quietly sat down in the swing next to her, and started swinging. She heard the creaky swing and looked up from her tear filled hands. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her tears streamed down her cheeks. She stared at me for a long 30 seconds, and I stopped swinging. Then she quickly wrapped her arms around me as if to see if this was a dream, and cried into my shoulder, "I thought you were with S-sakura!" I looked at her soft blue hair and recognized the sweet honey scent emanating from her. "No, Sakura is a whore." I simply answered with a chuckle. She looked up at me and giggled. "So, were you the one that gave me this?" I pulled out the crumpled up note that was in my pocket. "Yes…I was… I wasn't expecting you to figure it out so fast. I laughed, and did something that my heart decided before my brain. I kissed her on her forehead, and her cheeks turned a bright pink. Shock lit up her face, and she then buried her face in my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her. "Do you love me, by any chance?" I asked calm and collected. She let out a small whimper. "I take that as a yes." I pulled her out of her swing and put her in my lap and I swung slowly back and forth. She looked up at me with her big gray eyes and smiled. I patted her head and told her that there was no reason to cry. She hugged me tightly, and I whispered, "I love you, too."


End file.
